20 Minute Path to Peak Fitness

For some people, exercise is a daunting challenge.042-20 Minute Path to Peak Fitness_02_720x400
The good news is that if you use the Peak Fitness Method, exercise can be fun and efficient—you won’t need to take a lot of time out of your schedule to do it!
“Peak Fitness” was coined by Phil Campbell, a trainer to athletes for over 35 years. The Peak Fitness approach to exercising takes only twenty minutes a day, but your heart rate peaks eight times during that period of time so that you are working intensely for about four minutes out of those twenty minutes. The best thing about it is that twenty minutes of Peak Fitness exercising will do as much for you as about an hour of other aerobic style exercises!
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they discuss how Peak Fitness Exercising works and the many positive benefits that you might receive with this approach.

LINKS and RESOURCES:

Does Phil Campbell’s Peak Fitness Increase HGH?
http://www.hgh10.com/does-phil-campbells-peak-fitness-increases-hgh/

Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness by Phil Campbell, ©October 15, 2003, Pristine Publishers, Inc.

Peak Fitness Boosts Your Human Growth Hormone by 771% in Just 20 Minutes (Dr. Mercola interview with Phil Campbell)
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/02/10/phil-campbell-interview.aspx

Effortless Healing: 9 Simple Ways to Sidestep Illness, Shed Excess Weight, and Help Your Body Fix Itself by Dr. Joseph Mercola,
©February 24, 2015, Harmony Publishers

Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet to Total Fitness and Longer Life by Nora T. Gedgaudas, ©May 27, 2011, Healing Arts Press

Primal Blueprint 21 Day Total Body Transformation: A step-by-step gene reprogramming action plan by Mark Sisson, ©October 18, 2011, Primal Nutrition, Inc.

The Wonders of Massage

Hands-on massage feels marvelous, but it has many health benefits, too! More and more people—especially baby boomers—are recognizing the health benefits of massage.041-The Wonders of Massage_720x400
For non-medical massage sessions, you may want to learn a few techniques on your own and proceed toward enjoyment. Some massages are just pleasurable sessions between loving couples. These massages can be fun, relaxing, and intimate.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they discuss the experience of massage and the positive benefits that come from different types of massage.

LINKS
Massage Therapy styles and Health Benefits
By Web MD
http://www.webmd.com/balance/massage-therapy-styles-and-health-benefits

 How Can Massage Help My Health and Wellbeing?
By Beth Burgan, MA, MFA
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/massage-therapy/how-can-massage-help-my-health-and-wellbeing

 How Can I Find the Right Massage Therapist?
By Beth Burgan, MA, MFA
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/massage-therapy/how-can-i-find-right-massage-therapist

 How Does Massage Work?
By Beth Burgan, MA, MFA
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/massage-therapy/how-does-massage-work

The Time to Begin Your Dream Is Now!

Life is now! If you wait to start your dream, you may not get a second chance. When you feel the inkling to move, then move; jump in! Accept the challenge. Make something happen. It’s all up to you.023-The Time to Begin Your Dream Is Now_720x400
If we don’t choose what we want, then life chooses for us. Maybe we don’t feel worthy enough to choose for ourselves; or maybe we don’t understand how to. But all of your dreaming—the seeing and planning and having—is all wasted if you never start.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they give you some solid tips to overcome some of the “blockers” that stop you from getting started on your dreams. They really want to encourage you to begin “choosing and doing” right now.

Links
Do It! – Let’s Get Off Our Buts
by Peter McWilliams and John-Roger
©1991 by Prelude Press, Inc.

Happy Relationships Are Built On Trust

Trust is something that is essential in all relationships—whether it is a love match, a friendship, or a work partnership. We exercise trust when we marry, when we leave our children in the care of another, or when we provide services for others.022-Happy Relationships Are Built On Trust_720x400_02
We develop trust with the idea that it is a matter of integrity and good moral choice to abide by certain agreements, whether spoken or inferred. Trust is most definitely a choice. We are hurt when these agreements are broken. We will not be happy when there is a lack of trust.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they discuss how trust is built in a relationship, how to manage trust, and how to repair trust when it is broken.

10 Steps for Stress Relief

Everybody has a different idea about what is stressful in life. A situation or an activity that may seem stressful to you might be enjoyable for someone else. So, what’s important for you is that whatever it is that gets you all tense and balled-up inside may be producing damaging stress for you. Here are some signs that you are experiencing too much stress in your life: constantly not sleeping well, frequent and/or prolonged headaches, being angry, often having unhappy thoughts, alcohol or drug abuse, feeling depressed, bouts of low energy.040-10 Steps for Stress Relief_720x400
When your brain is stressed, it signals your body to release a flood of stress hormones, the primary two being adrenaline and cortisol which prepare your body to take on the perceived danger. These stress hormones act on your body by speeding up your heart, making you breathe faster, and releasing glucose into your blood stream to give you a burst of energy. Your body is being prepared for the “fight-or-flight” response.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they share the “10 Steps for Stress Relief” to help you retrain your brain to act with happy, co-operative, creative decisions instead of reacting with pre-learned, negative, stress-building responses.

LINKS

10 Relaxation Techniques That Zap Stress Fast
by Jeannette Moninger
http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/blissing-out-10-relaxation-techniques-reduce-stress-spot

Fact Sheet on Stress
by National Institute of Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml

Stress Management – Topic Overview
by WebMD – Stress Management Health Center
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/

The Rhythmic Breath (Savitri Pranayama)
by DoYogaWithMe [YouTube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFOg8SVw8HY

If You Want to Be Happy, Get in the Flow!

What is “flow?” Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high), noted as the originator of coining the name “Flow Psychology,” says,

“. . . if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble of paying attention to them.”021-If You Want to Be Happy, Get in the Flow_720x400
Flow is a mental and physical state of being where you are completely in the moment; your whole being is involved while you’re using you talents to the fullest. You become absorbed, totally involved in the activity for its own sake. Time flies; ego falls away; every action, movement, and thought “flows,” one from the next.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they talk about “Flow Psychology” and how to get into the “flow!” Using your creativity and then boosting your task into the “flow” is immensely enjoyable. Bill and Kira say that, “Being in the ‘flow’ truly leads to more happiness in your life!”

Top 10 Strategies to Help Prevent Breast Cancer

In the 1960’s, 1 in 20 women would be diagnosed with breast cancer. Back then, this was considered a very serious and threatening national medical situation. Unfortunately in 2015, fifty years later, close to 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer—a two-and-a-half times increase! What’s causing this catastrophic crisis? What can be done about it?039-Top 10 Strategies to Help Prevent Breast Cancer_720x400
One bright area of research is the study of how environmental factors may contribute to the occurrence of breast cancer. These findings have led to recommendations that are deemed helpful in both treating and preventing breast cancer.
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they share Dr. Mark Hyman’s Top 10 Strategies to Help Prevent Breast Cancer in their lively podcast.

LINKS

10 Strategies to Prevent and Treat Breast Cancer
by Mark Hyman, MD
http://drhyman.com/blog/2015/10/02/10-strategies-to-prevent-and-treat-breast-cancer/

Chemicals in Food
by Breast Cancer Fund
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/environmental-breast-cancer-links/food/

Chemicals and Radiation Linked to Breast Cancer
by Breast Cancer Fund
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/radiation-chemicals-and-breast-cancer/

Make Our Products Safe
by Breast Cancer Fund
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/big-picture-solutions/make-our-products-safe/

Making Cosmetics Safe
by Breast Cancer Fund
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/big-picture-solutions/make-our-products-safe/making-cosmetics-safe.html

Breast Cancer & Our Environment
by Breast Cancer Fund
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/environmental-breast-cancer-links/

 

Creativity Part 6 – Clutter on the Brain!

Just like your physical body, your living space needs to be balanced. When “personal treasures” begin to overwhelm you, it’s time to de-clutter. A disorganized space creates stress that can leave you feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, and emotionally drained. Clutter is like the old saying, “too much of a good thing.”020-Creativity Part 6 - Clutter on the Brain_720x400
Clutter not only affects your ability to function joyfully, it also steals your creative powers! All of us have things that we absolutely love and we don’t want to even think of getting rid of, but are many of these things really being used?
De-cluttering is often a work in progress for many of us—it’s ongoing for sure. Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they talk about some of their clutter issues and offer helpful suggestions on how to de-clutter your space!

Links
How Clutter Can Destroy Your Health: Get Organized Today
By The Alternative Daily
http://www.thealternativedaily.com/how-clutter-can-destroy-your-health-get-organized-today/

How to Rid [Your] Home of Negative Energy
By Sally Painter, Feng Shui Practitioner
http://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/How_to_Rid_Home_of_Negative_Energy

How Clutter Affects Your Brain (and What You Can Do About It)
By Mikael Cho
http://lifehacker.com/how-clutter-affects-your-brain-and-what-you-can-do-abo-662647035

How Clutter Affects Your Life, & Secret (But Simple) Military Communication Techniques
By Daniel Hayes
http://simplelifetogether.com/slt-010-how-clutter-affects-your-life-secret-but-simple-military-communication-techniques/

Super Brain Food – Part 3

Part 3 is all about Super Brain Food Snacks—yummy treats that keep your energy up while keeping your weight down! After all, who doesn’t enjoy a good snack?038-Super Brain Food - Part 3_720x400
Now, by “Good Snack” Kira and Bill Van Ittersum mean snacks packed with brain-powering nutrition that helps our brains function at high-level efficiency from one meal to the next. Also, snacks that will not spike our blood sugar with unhealthy levels of glucose or artificial additives.
All this boils down to snacks that will satisfy our tastes and cravings without becoming extra weight we don’t need. Listen in to this great discussion on healthy snacks!

Making A Vision Board With Kids!

Vision boards aren’t just for grownups! The positive gains that grownups get from making and then viewing their own vision board each day can be had by kids, too. In fact, kids can build life-long visualization habits by learning to make their own vision (purpose) boards at an early age. The earlier you start, the more fun they’ll have with the project.020-Making A Vision Board With Kids_720x400
Vision boards help kids express their hopes and dreams in pictures, especially at a time in their lives when sophisticated language skills are still being acquired. This is a great time to begin discussing their likes and dislikes with them, leading up to helping them find out what they are passionate about. “How do you know you don’t like it if you never tried it?” is a great question to ask.
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum discuss this question and several others as they share their experience with “Vision Boarding with the Grandkids.”

Links
The Reason Vision Boards Work and How to Make One
by Elizabeth Rider
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-rider/the-scientific-reason-why_b_6392274.html

How to Create a Dream Board for Kids
http://www.imom.com/how-to-create-a-dream-board-for-kids/#.VgMGEstVhBe

By Any Means Necessary: Breaking Down & Building Up The American Dream
(Several vision board examples.)
http://teamroom308.blogspot.com/2012/09/vision-board-examples.html

Gratitude Boards For Kids!
http://makeavisionboard.com/vision-board-gratitude-board-for-kids/

Helping Kids Set Goals With Vision Boards
by Heather Darling
https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/2014/01/helping-kids-set-goals-with-vision-boards/

Super Brain Food – Part 2

What we eat has a lot to do with the health of our brains. A diet balanced in organic, whole vegetables, “good” fats, and protein will keep your brain in optimum running condition.  In fact, if you misguidedly tried to cut out all fats from your diet, and skimp on protein, your body would sicken and die!037-Super Brain Food - Part 2_720x400
In “Super Brain Food – Part 2, Kira and Bill Van Ittersum talk about 8 “good” fats in both whole vegetable and oil form. Listen in to see which ones you’re consuming daily!

Links
“Brainchanger: The food, the facts, the science, to control your genetic destiny
by Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D.
http://www.drperlmutter.com/

Olive Oil: Brain Food
by Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D.
http://www.drperlmutter.com/olive-oil-brain-food/

Would the Real Olive Oil Please Stand Up?
by Eileen
http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/03/04/would-the-real-olive-oil-please-stand-up/

8 of the Best Healthy Oils and Their Benefits
by Hello Magazine
http://womensbrainhealth.org/think-about-it/8-of-the-best-healthy-oils-and-their-benefits

Borage Oil
http://wholehealthchicago.com/2009/05/11/borage-oil/

Coconut Oil: Four Tablespoons of This “Brain Food” May Prevent Alzheimer’s (Telling the story of Dr. Mary Newport and her husband with Alzheimer’s disease.)
by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/13/can-this-natural-food-cure-or-prevent-alzheimers.aspx

The True Potency of the Pumpkin Seed
by William Gamonski
http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2012/10/The-True-Potency-Of-The-Pumpkin-Seed/Page-01

Your Brain On Ketones: How a high-fat diet can help the brain work better
by Dr. Emily Deans, M.D.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201104/your-brain-ketones

Super Brain Food – Part 1

When you make eating healthy foods a daily habit, it not only nourishes your body but it increases the odds of enjoying a happy, healthy brain for the whole of your life. So much research has now concluded that eating healthy—fresh, organic, and whole fruits and vegetables, good fats, beans, and good grains—will indeed reduce your “biological” age as your body ages chronologically. Most children, teens, and young twenty-somethings are not too concerned with these findings, unless they have unusual and/or serious ailments.036-Super Brain Food - Part 1_720x400_03
However, once a person reaches thirty, the “uh oh” syndrome begins to arise. You can’t run as far—or as fast, you don’t sleep as well, you may have bouts of “fuzzy” thinking, and your weight begins to creep upward. This problem only increases in your forties and fifties.
By the time you’re sixty, you really take notice and try to reverse things to bring your body back to a new “healthy normal.” Why wait until you have dug a deep hole for your body to stand in? Why not give your body a lifelong gift and start feeding it right?
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum discuss “Super Brain Food” over a series of podcasts.  Psst! It’s not only “Super” for your brain, but your whole body as well!

Links
Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D.
“Brainchanger: The food, the facts, the science, to control your genetic destiny
http://www.drperlmutter.com/

Eat Smart for a Healthier Brain
by Carol Sorgen
http://www.webmd.com/diet/eat-smart-healthier-brain?page=1

Nine Ways to Make Yourself Smarter
by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/17/good-brain-health-tips.aspx

Brain Health: Can These Tricks Make You Smarter?
by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/07/brain-health-tips.aspx

Green Tea Linked to Decreased Risk for Dementia
by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/04/23/green-tea-dementia.aspx

9 Top Foods To Boost Your Brainpower
by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/31/9-foods-brain-health.aspx

Creativity Part 5 – Balancing and Healing Your Chakras!

Just like your physical body, your seven energy centers, or chakras, can be adjusted and balanced. The benefits to a balanced “energy body” are: more vitality in mind, body, and spirit, and keeping the spiritual pathways open to receive inner intelligence, healing, and guidance. In fact, many healers say that “dis-eases” of the physical body begin with imbalances in the chakras.019-Creativity Part 5 - Balancing and Healing Your Chakras_720x400
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they describe balancing methods for each of your seven chakras, and how you can keep them in tip-top shape.

Links
Warning Signs Your Chakras Are Out Of Balance
by Reshma Patel
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13433/warning-signs-your-chakras-are-out-of-balance.html
6 Simple Ways to Balance Your Root Chakra
by Jennifer White
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4514/6-Simple-Ways-to-Balance-Your-Root-Chakra.html
Simple Chakra Balance Test
http://balance.chakrahealingsounds.com/chakra-balance-test/
Solfeggio Frequencies and Tibetan Singing Bowls
http://balance.chakrahealingsounds.com/about-us/solfeggio-frequencies-tibetan-singing-bowls/

6 Reasons to Keep A Meal Planner

Keeping a meal planner simplifies the whole eating process and keeps eating healthy on track! We all want that, right? You won’t have to stop and think about what’s for dinner—especially when you’re tired and hungry and you’re resistance is waaaay down—because your food plan is all written out and you’ve already bought all the ingredients you will need tonight! “Thank you, Meal Planner!”035-6 Reasons to Keep A Meal Planner_720x400
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share their secrets to constructing and implementing a successful meal planner. You’ll not only get some handy tips and ideas, but you’ll have fun, too, listening to their lively banter.

12 Steps to Competence!

Kids need lots of opportunities to find their strengths and learn to take safe risks. You also need to guide them in their decision making but, ultimately, let them resolve many things on their own. This is the way to raise strong, competent adults—people who can make a difference in their world!019-12 Steps to Competence_720x400
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum discuss their twelve steps to raising competent children. See how many of these useful tips you are already using!

Creativity Part 4 – Discover Your 7 Energy Chakras!

There are 7 energy centers in the body called “chakras” and each one also houses our mental and emotional strengths. They are the psychic-soul mind-body connection points between you and the inner worlds.018-Creativity Part 4 - Discover Your 7 Energy Chakras_720x400
Each chakra responds to a different color of light and they work both individually and in concert to guide and heal your body in physical, emotional, and mental “dis-eases.”
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they name the 7 chakras, describe their influence on the body, and how they work together for your benefit.

Links
Warning Signs Your Chakras Are Out Of Balance
by Reshma Patel
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13433/warning-signs-your-chakras-are-out-of-balance.html

6 Simple Ways to Balance Your Root Chakra
by Jennifer White
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4514/6-Simple-Ways-to-Balance-Your-Root-Chakra.html

Funny Bone Books!

Kids not only do humorous things, but they are great humor barometers. When something strikes their funny bone, they will laugh and laugh without any reserve. They like to giggle and repeat silly phrases and exaggerate them over and over.018-Funny Bone Books_02_720x400
Kids love funny, goofy stories that could probably never really happen. You may be surprised at the things they find funny—sometimes you may even be horrified!
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share their grandkids’ favorite Funny Bone Books!

Links
The Monster that Stole My Underwear by Kate Clary
Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin
The Monster at the End of This Book (A Sesame Street Book) by John Stone
Timmy Failure, We Meet Again by Stephan Pastis
Game On Boys (which is silly and nonsensical) by Kate Cullen

For Boys
Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey
Diary of A Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney
Big Nate Series by Lincoln Peirce
“Weenies” Series and Other Books by David Lubar
My Weirdest School Series and Other Books by Dan Gutman
Eddie Dickens Trilogy/Gressingham Series by Philip Ardagh

For Girls
Clementine Series by Sara Pennypacker
Dork Diaries Series by Rachel Renée Russell
Mallory Series by Laurie B. Friedman
Dear Dumb Diary Series by Jim Benton
Ramona Series by Beverly Cleary
Super Fudge by Judy Blume

Deep Breathing for Life

We all need to breathe to stay alive, but much of the time we just take our breath for granted. Breathing is an act of inspiration, which in its expanded definition means “a divine act to receive sacred revelation.”034-Deep Breathing for Life_720x400
In this podcast, Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share tips and ideas to recognize your breathing as a conscious “tool” for wellness and how you too can train your breath to stimulate divine awareness.

Links
Deep Breathing
by Yoga Meditations, Audio CD

Science of Breath: A Practical Guide
by Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., and Alan Hymes, M.D.

Science of Breath: A Complete Manual of The Oriental Breathing Philosophy
by Yogi Ramachraka

Breathe Right Now
by Laurence A. Smolley, M.D. and Debra Fulghum Bruce

Breathing: Expanding Your Power and Energy
by Michael Sky

Total Relaxation: Healing Practices for Body, Mind and Spirit
by John R. Harvey, Ph.D.

Breath Taking: Lessons in Breathing
by Lorin Roche, Ph.D.

Create A Baking Play Day!

If you want to see smiles and hear laughter in your house, have a baking play day with your kids and grandkids! The happy memories will last-and-last, especially if you take lots of pictures with your smart phone—and a video or two!017-Create A Baking Play Day_01_720x400
Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share the fun they had with their grandkids on various baking days. On each occasion, great times were had by all and delicious treats were even available to share with their parents!017-Create A Baking Play Day_02_720x400

Links
Ikea “Bolmen” Step Stool
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90291330/
[This one is similar to ours but it is 9-3/4” high instead of 12” like ours.]

Guy Lewis  –  American Muse CD
http://guylouis.com/american-muse-cd/

Creativity Part 3 – Five Ways to Overcome Creativity Blocks!

From time-to-time, all of us get stuck. It’s what we do next that really counts! The more creative you are at becoming unstuck, the less likely you will be stuck in that same way in the future.017-Creativity Part 3 - 5 Ways to Overcome Creativity Blocks_720x400
Join Kira and Bill Van Ittersum as they share 5 ways to get you unstuck and get your mojo working again. They have used all of these methods at one time or another and have found success in each of them. Listen in and add some new tools to your kit bag!

Links

Bruce Lipton: Think Beyond Your Genes
https://www.brucelipton.com

Psych-K Centre International
https://www.psych-k.com/about/

Quantum NLP
by Christiane Turner

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Dr. Joseph Murphy

The Key to Hypnotism Simplified
by James T. McBrayer

Creative Scripts for Hypnotheraphy
by Marlene E. Hunter, M.D.

Self-Hypnosis: It’s Theory and Application
by Melvin Powers

Self-Hypnosis: Creating Your Own Destiny
by Henry Leo Bolduc

Instant Self-Hypnosis: How to Hypnotize Yourself With Your Eyes Open
by Forbes Robbins Blair

The Power of your Mind Versus Fear
by Coptic Master Hamid Bey

Extraordinary Healing
by Marilyn Gordon

The Heart and Soul of EFT and Beyond
by Phillip and Jane Mountrose

Energy Tapping
by Fred P. Gallo, Ph.D. and Harry Vincenzi, Ed.D.